breaking point
by SylverSpyder
Summary: Every man, every hero, has a breaking point. A point at which they cannot go on. "And how, may I ask, do you plan on capturing them?" The Light's laugh was cold, feral. "What hero could ever resist a cry for help?"
1. Chapter 1

Set in season 1- I don't own them.

Ch. 1 The King of Rhetorical Questions

"What is the weakness of the Justice League? We need... leverage." The voice was breathy, whether with laughter, pain, or something else, it was hard to tell, but it alone was enough to send shivers down the spine.

"The Justice League would be too good of a weapon to waste by destroying it, so we have made... preparations." The hiss of the 's' was foreboding in a way- like the sound of gas escaping from a pipeline or a cobra preparing to strike. Dangerous. "So tell me now, what is the weakness of the Justice League? Where are they most... vulnerable?"

There was silence as those in the room glanced back and forth to see if anyone had an answer. Masked faces held no answers.

The Light continued. "What do we need to push them past their breaking points, to convince them that sometimes doing the 'good' thing can be just as harmful as 'breaking a few rules'?"

The silence grew lengthy.

The Light sighed. "Young Justice. Batman and Robin, Flash and Kid Flash, and, no matter how hard he pretends not to care, Superman has Superboy. Shall I continue? Aquaman and AquaLad. Martian Manhunter and M'gann. Green Arrow and Artemis. It is these relationships, the very ones we have been carefully cultivating, that we must exploit." The whisper of an exhale in the words had clearly become an undertone of laughter, as if the idea of meddling with some of the world's greatest heroes was a source of undying humor.

"These are their weakest links. For months now we have prepared, sending our minions, the League of Shadows, to provide missions for the young heroes. It was all arranged carefully," there was some muttering at this, "to build up the League's confidence in Young Justice so that they will grow to appreciate them and entrust them with more independence, a fault that will lead to their downfall." The lecturing Light's tone grew disinterested, "It was also arranged that, had there been any mistakes, the League would feel a great deal of guilt, a plan B for leverage, you might say." Disdain colored the word. What use did the Light have for a Plan B? "Why do you think we arranged the creation of Superboy and gave him the powers we did? He is weak enough not to threaten Superman, but strong enough to replace him, designed to reach that unreachable stone-cold heart in a way neither his adopted parents nor Lois Lane could ever accomplish. Fool." The chuckle was once more audible beneath the words.

"We have also... 'influenced'... the Young Justice Team's emotions, creating certain bonds and certain hints of discord that will be helpful now, when our plan comes to fruition. They will walk into our traps, and they will do so willingly..."

"And how, may I ask, do you plan on capturing them?"

The Light's laugh was cold, feral. "What hero could ever resist a cry for help?"

They had been on the stake out for twelve hours now and Wally was exhausted. Not because of the stakeout itself. He had plenty of food in his compartments and his cell had Angry Birds on it, so there was no way he'd get bored. No, the part that exhausted him was about 5'7" and green with a chaotic cascade of blond hair. It was hard enough to know that she had taken Roy's place on the team, but it was much worse to try to talk to her. It was like taking a walk in a hail-storm, banging his head against the wall repeatedly, and listening to Dick sing. Actually, all of those sounded better than a twelve hour stakeout next to Artemis: a stake-out which he had volunteered for, only to find out too late who would accompany him.

"Wow," her voice came now. "I would say you looked lost in thought, but you thinking would be like Kaldur moving to the Sahara."

"He probably wouldn't like it there, but the weather might remind you of home." Wally retorted, anger flaring up and fists clenching.

"Ouch. That burns, legit, Baywatch. You of all people talking about someone's home life..."

That stung. Wally felt like she'd slapped him and he squeezed his eyes shut as all the hard-edged memories rushed back to him. "I'm not the only one with 'Daddy' issues," he snarled. "What happened to that ninja boyfriend of yours?"

Artemis's eyes snapped like live coals. "Just because we're on the same team does not make me on your side, are we clear?" She growled menacingly. "Next time, you'll wish I killed you back when I had the chance."

She looked like she was seriously contemplating slaughtering Wally, her incredible eyes narrowed in a way that made him nervous. He looked around their spot by the harbor in the warehouse district in case he needed a weapon. "Well, no matter how hard you deny it, you are, at the moment, on my left side, Beautiful."

"Are you really that excited about getting dismembered? Believe me, it'll be a bloody mess." Wally relaxed slightly. Her tone was softer, back to the sarcastic tones it usually had without any of the cold, hard fury. A part of him argued that he needed that fury, that rage, something to rail against, the memories of his father still all too clear.

Artemis laughed, so suddenly and abruptly that Wally almost fell over. "Dismembered. Ha! Robin would have a field day with that one."

It _was_ funny. Wally could just see his younger friend adding "-membered" to his vocabulary, somewhere between '-aster' and '-whelmed.' He joined in with Artemis's laughter before he could realize what he was doing- or rather, with whom he was doing it.

He jumped with a start as someone else joined the conversation. It took him a second before he realized the voices in his head were from the mind-link. M'gann and the others were nearby.

_"Fifty-bucks says they won't make it five more minutes without arguing again."_

Robin's thought came in loud and clear. Wally scowled and looked at Artemis. She had heard it, too. She raised one eyebrow, a move which Wally interpreted as _'Should we show him we could do it, cause losing fifty-bucks would be ok revenge for that comment, second-best only to dislocating his elbow and stealing his Batarangs...'_

For a second he was surprised at how well he could read her masked face. He smiled savagely.

"Starting now?" he whispered. She nodded, and looked ready to 'get along' until they were interrupted by Superboy's conjecture over the telepathic link.

_"I bet in five-minutes time they'll be all over each other. That's what the show Wally watches said. It's very educational. NTV or something. When guys pretend they don't like girls..."_

Artemis turned to face Wally, her eyes wide. "You don't like me do you?"

Wally fumbled for words. "Of course not!" He backtracked. "Not that you're not perfectly attractive, I just don't like you. As in, I'm not attracted to you. We could be friends, I guess, but you're always so mean. Well,..."

Artemis snapped at him. "Keep digging your grave Wally because I swear that I will bury you in it."

_"That would be fifty bucks."_ Robin's smug voice came over the link.

Wally scowled, his face bright red, grabbed Artemis and kissed her, full on the mouth. Then he shouted through the link, _"There! Now __everybody __wins_!" And ran off, leaving a surprised and shell-shocked Artemis behind at the Stakeout.

"_Hello, Megan! That explains a lot!"_


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

She had to admit he had surprised her, the jerk. He was like an emotional roller coaster, one minute chewing her head off and the next... Artemis blushed, remembering the kiss. _Literally chewing your head off,_ a tiny, very despicable voice whispered in her mind. _"Robin?!" _She tried, enraged, but it was just her own thoughts betraying her. If he didn't move so damned fast she would have caught him.

_And then what?_ The voice at the back of her mind whispered. She could torture him, trap him in a room without food for twenty-four hours. Or slit his throat. Give him a lecture on how to treat a girl. God forbid... _Kiss him again?_ She almost groaned out loud. No creative solutions came to mind unless you count medieval torture techniques, taking pictures of him with that stupid teddy bear he slept with and putting them online, or getting in a little sewing practice on his costume...

The situation with Wally was not one of the many complications she had considered encountering when she joined the team. He was unpredictable, and in her short fifteen years she had come to hate 'unpredictable.' From her first moment on the team, he had unsettled her. He never cracked. Never showed anger. Frustration and annoyance maybe, but... What in the world would someone have to go through to make them so...

Try as she might, the words to describe Wally evaded her. She knew everyone thought Wally just said the first things that came to mind, but she also knew that a Flash's brain works must faster than others, and Wally was smarter than he looked, so what was he hiding? She remembered his reaction to her family comment. She had guessed there was something wrong there.

"That boy!" She exclaimed, on her way back from the Stakeout with the others in the bioship. They had all spent the night paired in various locations watching for any sign of the criminal activity that had been rumored to occur, and, except for a mugging in which Robin intervened, it seemed the intel was false.

She looked around at the others, standing in the portal to the bioship, their faces tight with exhaustion. Wally wasn't with them. He had run off, presumably to pout. She would have to figure out how to deal with him when he got back...

Wally was running, his racing thoughts calming as his legs picked up speed. He knew he shouldn't have kissed Artemis, but he had been frustrated, and, despite all of his Uncle's warnings, he had done something stupid. _Not surprising, really,_ he thought. He increased his speed and it felt good to just loosen up. He rarely, if ever, got to run at his fastest. He always had a goal. Take out this bad guy or that bad guy, no, don't kill them, do recon, carry the others to safety... Sometimes it drove him insane. He had joined Young Justice to get a chance to finally do his best, live the life of a hero, but instead he was still just Wally West. The boy from Blue Valley, Nebraska with the bad haircut and chronic black eye, with the broken wrist and the motor-mouth.

Now, however, instead of getting to hang out with his Uncle, he was stuck with a blond chick who didn't really seem to care. It shocked him, the first time he met her. He had always been of a _'If there's something you can do, do it'_ philosophy and Artemis... She just didn't seem to care about the person who was crying for help or the people held hostage. She was so cool, detached. It went against everything he believed a hero should be, and he wasn't sure why she had even joined Young Justice...

Wally threw these thoughts out of his head as he made his second loop around the outskirts of Gotham and headed back over towards Central City. Instead he thought of ice cream. Chocolate preferably. He slowed down a bit and pulled out his cell from one of his compartments and dialed a number.

"Hey, Uncle Barry, you up for some ice cream?"

The Flash hung up the phone after his nephew's call and sighed. Wally was growing up and changing, and Barry couldn't help but worry about him. He pulled on his civvies and headed over to the ice cream shop in Central on foot, at a sauntering gate that he rarely used anymore, enjoying the scenery. No doubt Wally would be waiting for him by the time he got there, ice cream in hand and a smile on his face, back from whatever latest mission kept him last night. Barry felt a flash of pride. As he continued towards the ice cream shop, walking slowly, he was totally unaware that this was one appointment that Wally would not keep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three is just background for those of you who wondered about how Wally and Artemis ended up alone together at a stake-out.

Chapter 3:

"To break the League, we break the sidekicks."

"How?"

"Use them against each other."

... Fourteen Hours Earlier ...

"Recognized, Kid Flash."

Wally darted into Mount Justice and was standing by the others before the portal could finish introductions. "So, now that the Wall-man's here, what's your emergency? Got a DID situation?" He turned to Artemis and winked. "Damsel In Distress," he whispered. "One of my specialties."

Artemis snorted. "Yeah, Kid Rash, we all know about your aptitude for distressing damsels..."

Kaldur's glare kept Wally from saying his comeback, which Wally didn't mind so much because his comeback REALLY sucked. He couldn't choose between "Your face is distressing," "Your mom didn't seem to find me particularly distressing," and "'Aptitude,' that's a new word. That brings your vocabulary up to about... 312 if you count death, died, and dead separately..." So, instead of proving that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, he turned to Batman's holographic image with a grin.

"What have you got for me, Bats?"

"This mission isn't mandatory, it is simply recon and observation based on some tips the Justice League received. If anyone wants to volunteer for a stakeout..."

Wally waved his hand in the air as he thought of the stack of homework sitting on his bedroom desk. It could wait. If he got lucky, the villain Cerebus might attack. Then Uncle Barry could give him a note that said that the dog ate his homework (not saying which dog), and he wouldn't have to turn in the half-finished essay on Beowulf that he spilled his Mountain Dew on yesterday. "Hey Bats, count me in!" Wally exclaimed. "Is it a warehouse or a secret lab this time? Because warehouse missions are currently in the lead, six to..." Wally was interrupted by the masked hero.

Robin would later swear his formidable mentor was grinning when he said. "Good. Your other teammates have already agreed, too. You'll accompany each other in groups of two. Kid Flash, how about you're paired with... Artemis."

"WHAT!" Two voices yelled simultaneously, each struggling to be heard over the other.

"Baywatch is..."

"... So annoying. Artemis..."

"...thinks he's so cute and special..."

"... and she won't shut up!"

"...but he's not..."

"...Mean!"

"...Flirts..."

"…To Everyone!"

They were so absorbed in yelling at each other that they didn't notice when Batman's image disappeared, but not before winking to Robin, who, you would know if you could read lips (never let everyone know all of the cards in your hand), said _'I owe you for that one.'_

"And I CAN'T..."

"…STAND HER!"

Robin interrupted the two screaming fifteen-year-olds. "Wally, add a point in favor of abandoned warehouses."

Mentally Robin added _'And another point to Bruce. Wally: 176. Bruce: 218. And counting.'_


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Young Justice

* * *

><p>The ice cream was delicious. Cool and sweet, he savored the soft treat melting against the warmth of his tongue, the bitter dark chocolate countered by sweet chewy brownie chunks that stuck to his teeth in a not entirely unpleasant way. He ran his tongue over his lips, careful not to miss any. He didn't want Barry to know he hadn't waited for him. It was just Wally needed something sweet, to get the toothpaste-minty taste of Artemis out of his mind. The way her lips turned down when she got angry in that amusing way. Sometimes it was hard to hide a smile.<p>

Shaking his head, Wally sighed in frustration and stomped out of the door, the tinkling of the bell signaling his departure as he left the small ice cream shop, the scent of caramel blasting out of the door with him on the cool air that streamed continuously from the air conditioner inside.

Outside in the sudden presence of the sun's heat, Wally felt himself relax, letting the warmth sink into his skin and rolling his shoulders back, he shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sun s rays against his face. Feeling a drop of melting ice cream from the almost totally consumed cone in his hand, Wally opened one irritated eye. His peripheral vision caught a flash of all-too-familiar green as someone darted around the corner.

Wally peered around the corner.

"Artemis?" She was gone. He felt weird. And not just I-just-kissed-Artemis-and-now-she-might-be-stalkin g-me weird, more like that hollow feeling in his stomach that either meant his metabolism had burned up all three gallons of ice cream he had eaten or the feeling that something, he didn't know what, but something was very, very wrong. He took one step forward, his stomach churning. Something was wrong. That's when the screaming started. Wally faltered and took a step back.

It took Wally a minute to realize the screaming was in his head. Then, had anyone been watching him, and indeed, someone was, they would have seen the blood drain from his already pale face, his freckles becoming even more prominent as he remembered the others at the warehouse. He had just left them there. Sure, he had been pissed, and rightly so. Sure, it had just been a simple mission

Yet, since when was anything ever simple around them?

"Shit!" Wally slipped farther into the ally beside the ice cream shop and yanked off his shirt, slipping it over his head and tossing it to the side where it landed, discarded, on a garbage bag buzzing with flies. Reaching down, he grabbed the edge of his suit from where he had folded it down and yanked the tight fabric up over his abs and onto his arms, fumbling as he slipped it back over his shoulders and cursing his clumsiness. He was the fastest kid alive, you'd think he could put on his own damn clothes. Once he had something on, he reached down and simply snatched off the loose jeans he wore to cover his costume. He was running before he had even pulled on his cowl, slipping his goggles over his eyes that were already smarting in the wind as he accelerated, feet digging into the pavement for traction.

When a car suddenly loomed in front of him, he simply leaped up, clambering over it without pausing or hesitating. His team was in trouble. Yeah, they were jerks sometimes, but dammit, they were his team. He didn't even notice the crack of pavement or the echoing boom as he reached sonic speed, something he usually avoided. He was still accelerating, so fast that the sound never reached him. The friction from his feet was burning through the rubber of the civilian shoes he had never bothered to get rid of and eating into the fabric of his own specially designed boots. He didn't wince as it finally tore, the gravel digging into his soles as he reached an impossible speed. All he could think of was the screaming in his head.

Nonononononononononononono...

The city was a blur, even with his brain s incredible processing speed, his feet were moving so fast that he was gone before the images of what surrounded him could even reach him. He was faster than light. He only prayed it was fast enough.

His molecules were vibrating so fast he no longer dodged obstacles, he ran through them. Blood was dripping from his nose and his shredded feet were leaving a bloody trail through the city.

Nonononononononononononono...

The screaming continued, haunting and horrible. The warehouse loomed in front of him just as black pots began to fill his vision. He couldn't get any oxygen. His body was burning through his reserves at an insane rate at this speed.

Just another minute. Almost there...

The speed was tearing him apart.

But there was a warehouse. That was it. And there were many men around it, armed to the teeth. Wally had no time to stop. No time to dodge as bullets rained towards him. He held out a hand and winced...

Nothing happened. Like running through the buildings before, the bullets were passing right through him. Wally was fascinated by how slow they were going, grabbing one out of the air only to have it fall through his hand that didn't seem to be there . It took his befuddled brain a moment to realize that he was moving faster than light. He was invisible, and the men were just shooting at thin air. He smiled and went right through two of them, passing behind the herd of men who were unaware they were shooting at no one. With a conscious effort, he slowed his vibrating slightly and touched the neck of one of the men. The force of his speed knocked the man's head to the side, the spinal cord entirely severed, crushed by his two finger blow. The fingers of course, were in the same condition, crushed, but as Wally watched amazed, the skin writhed as the fingers knit themselves back together. A wave of lightheadedness hit him and he almost stumbled, his body deprived of food to break down. Wally grinned ferally, he could take them all down. These men who had taken his team, who were breaking them... He kept going.

To an observer it would look like all of the men were toppling spontaneously in groups, dead before they hit the ground. The man observing smiled.

"Impressive, of them all, this one is the most dangerous..." he smiled. "...but he can't maintain these speeds forever." He watched as another wave of men marched out of the warehouse to their deaths. "I will just keep throwing them at him and he'll do the hard part. He'll stop himself. A speedster is his own worst enemy."


End file.
